The start of the Four Temperaments, commonly known amongst the psychological audience as four different personality types developed by Aelius Galenus, a Greek philosopher, is around 450 BC. Many worldviews during this time had recognized the Classical Elements: Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth initially (Aristotle added Aether later, being the fifth one). These were acknowledged by most civilizations as the main compounds by which the universe was made.
In the next fifty years (400 BC), Hippocrates developed the Four Humours Theory. He found four bodily fluids (Black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm) and associated them with four different personalities. The Greek (And Latin, in the case of Sanuine) roots for these were used in finally arriving at the Temperaments. Black bile, being “melan chole”, adapted into Melancholic. Yellow bile, being “chole”, took the name of Choleric. Phlegm, from the similar Greek word Phlegma, took the name of Phlegmatic. Blood, coming from the Latin “sanguis”, took the name of Sanguine. These each also took a season, element, organ, quality (tieing in with Plato’s classical elements theory), and a Modern. Finally, Galen had named these the Temperaments; they were four different sides, with two opposing each other, while the other two also oppose each other.
To start with, a brief list of these four temperaments are Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic, and Sanguine. One could look at the theory as four different edges of a square, like in the case of the elements. To give a better mental image, let’s say: Choleric is at the top tip, Sanguine is at the next to the right one, Phlegmatic is at the bottom, and Melancholic is on the left side. As you may see, Choleric and Phlegmatic are on opposite sides, as are Melancholic and Sanguine. They represent somewhat opposite personality types, so a Sanguine would differ immensely from a Melancholic. Sanguines are amorous and cheerful, while Melancholics are grouchy, irritable, and reclusive.
First, here’s an overview of a Choleric. Their prime purpose seems to be gaining a higher status than others and achieving greatness. They are one to subconsciously bring others down for their own benefit. An upside, however, is that they are never lacking in boldness. The emotion they are tied with most of the time is anger. They typically have a short fuse and are rather negative in temper. They flourish with ambition and passion. They attempt to instill it within others, and despise to be proved wrong or be put down. They can oppress the other temperaments quite a bit, influencing Sanguines the least (They are a fellow outspoken temperament and share a bit in common), influencing Melancholics a bit (They want to be left alone and are quite reclusive), and mostly Phlegmatics (They are nearly the opposite…They thrive to not offend anyone in any way, and rarely boast). A Choleric would naturally be driven against a Phlegmatic as Phlegmatics stand for nearly the opposite of what they do. Cholerics typically hold a very stern demeanor, not containing very much emotion, though sometimes showing a great deal of it on the inside (They may appear emotional, though they really aren’t introverted).
Next is the Sanguine. They share extroversion with Cholerics. While Cholerics wish to instill their beliefs into others, Sanguines simply thrive on attention. They want every eye to be on them at every moment. While they may boast, they typically do so in a manner that doesn’t demean others, as opposed to Cholerics. They are usually in high spirits, and can very easily influence the environment around them. They can be easy to get along with, and usually act without recognizing the consequence (“Living in the moment” sort of mind-set). They are tied with the emotion of joy. Though possibly not the sharpest knife in the set, they excel socially and usually bring enjoyment to anything they do. They may not be fond of Melancholics (They are the opposite of fun-loving, and are almost constantly in emotional turmoil. They degrade the environment’s mood, and prefer not to make contact with others). They get along the best with Phlegmatics, who provide them selflessly with as much attention as they may want and make a great audience. Cholerics may not get along as well, since Sanguines bear so many “Futile emotions” and don’t see things as they are. As stated before, they don’t often don’t get along well at all with Melancholics as a whole.
Now with Phlegmatic. These people simply stand out of the way of others and dare not offend them in any way. They are a more pacifistic type, and would delight more in the joy of others than their own joy. Though they may usually be cheerful, they could often drown themselves in self-blame. If a Phlegmatic were hurt, they would probably bottle the emotion on the inside. They are very inexpressive, unlike the Sanguine, though, being introverts like Melancholics, may maintain a similar demeanor. They don’t get along with Cholerics very well at all, since Cholerics are out to offend others and bring themselves up, and Phlegmatics have completely opposite motives. They may not get along well with Melancholics since they drown themselves in self-pity rather than self-blame, and are overall negative while Phlegmatics hold more positive emotions more often. they’d get along somewhat well with Sanguines since they are both positive people, and they’d be on the receiving end while the Phlegmatic was on the giving end.
Melancholics are last. They’re main drive is perfection (Which is not attainable, so they are in constant strife) and self-pity. Because of their perfectionist attitude, they will very easily find flaws in practically anything. They tend to point fingers at others rather than realize their own flaw, though they do often take a disliking towards their own mishaps. They are often self-depreciating, and constantly focus on themselves. They may be the bitter “Leave me alone” sort of demeanor, or a demeanor like that of a Phlegmatic (Giving and not too distressed on the outside, but very troubled on the inside). Unlike the Phlegmatic, who is generous and selfless usually, these negative people are very self-centered, though may appear otherwise on the outside. They are extremely analytical by nature, and, very much unlike the Sanguine, will almost by default degrade the quality of the social environment surrounding. They have a tendency of becoming absolute geniuses, however, and usually go into great depth with the most absurd or irrelevant subjects.
Please bear in mind that these are outlines for the temperaments and not concrete definitions. Each of the temperaments is an idea or concept rather than some concrete, “These are that and nothing else”. Though all of the temperaments have various flaws, these flaws can often be controlled by enough willpower, and that would be an example of a well-behaved person. Though they have these traits by nature, they also wield the capability to control it. There is a fifth temperament which some have thought up in the past, being “Supine”, though it is rejected by many and not often publicly recognized.
